Generally, a wind turbine includes a tower, a nacelle mounted on the tower, and a rotor coupled to the nacelle. The rotor typically includes a rotatable hub and a plurality of rotor blades coupled to and extending outwardly from the hub. Each rotor blade may be spaced about the hub so as to facilitate rotating the rotor to enable kinetic energy to be transferred from the wind into usable mechanical energy, and subsequently, electrical energy.
The wind turbine may also include various other components. For example, the wind turbine may include a generator, a turbine controller, cooling systems, associated electronics and various other components housed within the hub, nacelle and/or tower of the wind turbine. Such wind turbine components are generally subject to varying operating temperatures due to, for example, the heat generated by the wind turbine, itself, (e.g. during the power generation process) and seasonal changes to the ambient air conditions. Thus, wind turbine components are typically designed to operate over a predetermined range of temperatures. As a result, when excessive operating temperatures are achieved, wind turbine components may be subject to damage due to overheating.
Typically, to prevent damage due to overheating, a wind turbine is shut down when the operating temperatures within the turbine exceed a predetermined temperature value. However, such action results in significant down time for the wind turbine, thereby decreasing the overall efficiency and power output of the turbine.
Accordingly, a method for adjusting the power output of a wind turbine based on component operating temperatures that allows for the prevention of component overheating without shutting down the wind turbine would be welcomed in the technology.